tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378815287830615802024-03-05T11:05:12.471-08:00Dreams of Literary GrandeurOne man's attempt to become a professional novelist, poet, and playwright.Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-37855506710356879762010-06-18T23:58:00.000-07:002010-06-18T23:58:41.402-07:00So Long, Blogger!Check out my new home at http://litdreamer.wordpress.com
And don't worry; all of my posts, videos, photos, music files, and comments from this blog have been imported to my wordpress blog. The only thing missing is this cool template.Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-33002210819547007922010-06-18T14:18:00.000-07:002010-06-18T14:18:21.079-07:00My Final (Complete) SIFF Movie: Ondine (Ireland/ United States, 2009, 111 mins)I remember when I saw Neil Jordan's The Crying Game. In fact, I remember reading the review, which was separated from my viewing of it by several years. Okay, maybe several several years. The point is, after I saw it, I thought, "Now THAT is a perfect movie."
Ondine is not a perfect movie. Nor is it a bad movie. In fact, it chugs along at a good pace, and Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-47053033911116038882010-06-17T15:08:00.000-07:002010-06-17T15:17:30.115-07:00SIFF, Week Three: Last Train Home (China/Canada-Quebec, 2009, 87 mins)Along with A Tribute to Edward Norton, this movie was supposed to be a Seattle Cinema Club Meetup, organized by me. Three other people had said they were going. When I checked after the movie had played, two of them had canceled. I never saw the third person, maybe because he didn't see my Starbucks hat (which I said I'd wear, but only held in my hand until I was inside the Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-9535435138112100202010-06-15T17:49:00.000-07:002010-06-15T17:49:48.101-07:00SIFF, Week Three: Imani (Uganda/Sweden/Canada, 2010, 82 mins)Me and Caroline Kamya, director of Imani.
Not many people were in line when I went to get my will call tickets for the North American premiere of Imani (well, the last of three premiers ;-)). In fact, I counted seven people total. Then again, we're talking about a film that had played twice before, and which I was watching at 4:30 on a Friday, when most people are trying to get Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-58075421094269849542010-06-11T14:47:00.000-07:002010-06-22T15:38:01.309-07:00SIFF, Week Three: Stephin Merritt and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (United States, 1916, 105 mins)
I walk into the Paramount Theatre. Wow! According to signs on the glass entrance doors, no photography nor video recording is allowed ("strictly prohibited," it reads). People take photos, anyway. I do not, though I could have. But, unless I could photograph a panorama of the room, and paste it to this post, I would not be able to capture the beauty of this theaterGreg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-87288371609989818382010-06-08T21:16:00.000-07:002010-06-10T14:42:58.712-07:00SIFF, Week Two: 25th Hour (United States, 2002, 135 mins)As part of my double-header on Saturday night, I saw 25th Hour, part of SIFF's tribute to Edward Norton's career. As a bonus, he would be introducing the film. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who heard the news:
The line
Still, because no one likes sitting next to strangers, I got another excellent seat, about five or six rows back from the screen. I can also say that I went Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-44000599379590438792010-06-08T14:49:00.000-07:002010-06-10T14:42:41.963-07:00SIFF, Week Two: Garbo: The Spy (Spain, 2009, 89 mins)When I saw My Year Without Sex, I almost missed the beginning of the movie. With this film, I almost forgot to bring my ticket. And then the bus almost forgot to stop for me.
Apparently, it was a good day for movies, as there were a lot of people, both at this screening and at the screening for 25th Hour, which I saw later that night. Heck, it was a beautiful day for Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-67359165616317288942010-06-07T21:14:00.000-07:002010-06-17T14:23:29.527-07:00SIFF, Week Two: A Tribute to Edward Norton (including a screening of Leaves of Grass)ACT IIt's been raining a lot lately. When I got on the bus to see A Tribute to Edward Norton, it had started drizzling.
But then Edward Norton cameth, and the clouds disperseth, and the sun shone....
I wish.
By the time I got to the movie theater, it was pouring outside. As you can see, though, that didn't dissuade the crowd:
Even getting there early, however, didn't guarantee Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-10625885634242900462010-06-04T15:46:00.000-07:002010-06-10T14:38:25.699-07:00SIFF, Week Two: Mother Joan of the Angels (Poland, 1961, 110 mins)I entered SIFF cinema hacking and trying to form words. Damn pollen allergies. Luckily, there was a water fountain there, and luckily, my super dry throat did not bother me during the film.
Jerzy Kawalerowicz, the director of this film, died in 2007. The SIFF staff member who introduced Mother Joan of the Angels told us that he made 16 films (IMDB lists 17) and that she Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-47082160169712137332010-06-04T13:53:00.000-07:002010-06-10T14:38:04.722-07:00SIFF, Week One: My Year Without Sex (Australia, 2009, 96 mins)I wasn't sure how I would react to this film. It is, after all, about the year after a woman suffers a brain aneurism, and I watched it on the same day that my mother told me one of her friends had died recently from what was probably a brain aneurism. She was at her own retirement party, got a massive headache, went to the bathroom with one of the women there, and collapsed. Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-14453897175283934742010-06-02T14:10:00.000-07:002010-06-04T14:00:59.797-07:00SIFF, Week One: Winter's Bone (United States, 2010, 95 mins)On a day that feels more like winter than spring, how appropriate that I see a movie with the word "winter" in the title. As I followed the line of moving ticket holders, I saw SIFF volunteers (staff?) taking photos of two women. one with her arms around the other. I found out from the opening remarks that one of the women was the director of Winter's Bone, Debra Granik. And Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-34550456939787193032010-05-30T23:21:00.000-07:002010-06-09T15:48:31.365-07:00SIFF, Week One: City of Life and Death (China, 2009, 129 mins)In the book The Rape of Nanking, the late Iris Chang lamented the fact that Hollywood had not made a single film about this event, one of the worst atrocities of World War II, even though it was prime material for a movie ala Schindler's List. Hollywood has still not made a film on this subject, but Chinese director Chuan Lu has, even basing one of the characters in the film on the late Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-15829548978886829092010-05-29T15:54:00.000-07:002010-05-29T15:54:16.052-07:00One Year Ago...One year ago today, I was living with my parents, in Connecticut, after having come back from Japan the year before. I was basically unemployed, since my only income came from substitute teaching, and I didn't substitute teach that often. I had use of the blue van my parents had bought to bring my sister to college her freshman year, fifteen years before, but had no car of my own. &Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-40263832843533625402010-05-29T12:17:00.000-07:002010-06-04T13:58:39.529-07:00My First SIFF movie: I Am Love (Io Sono l'Amore) (Italy, 2009, 120 mins)
As often happens in Seattle, it was raining as I got on the bus to go see my first SIFF film, the Tilda Swinton vehicle I Am Love (she also served as an executive producer on the film).
I planned to get there at 6:30, since the movie started at 7. Then I saw the crowd from my bus, and thought I should have gotten there earlier. The entranceway was packed with people, and two Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-25040759625448692662010-05-26T19:26:00.000-07:002010-06-14T14:37:00.678-07:00SIFF Opening Night Gala, Part Two (Text)Now that you've seen some pictures from the May 20th Opening Night Gala, it's time for the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey would say).
It all started with a transfer. I had just grabbed an issue of The Stranger, Seattle's free alternative newspaper, which had a full SIFF guide inside, along with synopses of each movie and (if seen) a ranking of a star if it was good, or MUST SEE if it Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-22377852175521817312010-05-25T12:15:00.000-07:002010-05-25T12:46:47.730-07:00The Cultural DivideRiding back home Friday night from a BBQ for students and teachers at the school where I teach, looking at the student sleeping soundly beside me, I wondered: Can we ever know what they go through? Far away from home, with few people who speak their language, with nothing written in their native tongue. What must they deal with every day? The loneliness, the sadness, the Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-5058344150844082722010-05-20T22:10:00.000-07:002010-05-20T22:10:42.977-07:00SIFF Opening Night Gala, Part One (Photos)SIFF officially started tonight with an opening night gala at Benaroya Hall in Downtown Seattle. Here's a photo of us volunteers during a lull in the action.
The movie playing tonight was The Extra Man, starring Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Katie Holmes, and John C. Reilly. The directors are Shari Springer and Robert Pulcini (who did American Splendor).
This photo is of the "red Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-13797992729002166152010-05-17T21:59:00.000-07:002010-05-17T21:59:54.555-07:00Baby StepsOn Twitter today, I wrote, "Feels a bit like a toddler learning how to walk on this thing," referring to me. That got me to thinking: how do toddlers learn how to walk? First, they try to stand. Often, they fall down. Sometimes, after a failed attempt, they'll cry and have to be comforted. But then they try again. They refuse to be defeated. Maybe the Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-80189302089095535562010-05-16T21:40:00.000-07:002010-05-16T21:42:21.029-07:00Twitter-patedWhy, Greg, why?
I wouldn't be surprised if you were to look out of your windows right now and see the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding across your lawn. After all, the end of the world must be nigh.
I have joined Twitter.
With SIFF coming up, and my having no opportunity to write long posts while watching movies AND volunteering AND enumerating AND teaching, I thought this might be Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-11240605240486064222010-05-14T19:43:00.000-07:002010-05-14T19:43:03.937-07:00The Seattle International Film Festival373 Films. Three weeks and three days. Seven main venues. Shorts. Features. Documentaries. And Edward Norton.
The 36th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) starts a week from last night and ends on June 13th. I will be there, volunteering. I will be there, watching. I will be there, at my first film festival, soaking everything Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-51027308955825870262010-05-09T23:45:00.000-07:002010-05-09T23:45:15.637-07:00Book Review: The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions)
I have just finished a wonderful book for those wishing to buy an inexpensive collection of haiku from the masters of the form, or looking for a good starting point for reading haiku.
The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology does five things very well. For one, it includes the original poems (in romaji, which means that they're written using the English alphabet, rather than in Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-5330625488462904742010-05-09T00:32:00.000-07:002010-05-09T00:33:36.186-07:00A New Beginning!It's been a little over a week since my last post, though, if you've noticed, I have been popping up in the comments sections of other blogs--often multiple times--over the last two weeks, time probably better spent working on my novel, but I do have a few days coming up when I will be able to work on that exclusively, provided that my housemates (okay, I'm thinking of one in particular) doesn't Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-33901439972264682572010-04-27T18:21:00.000-07:002010-04-29T10:04:13.013-07:00The Reader
David Kross and Kate Winslet in a scene from The Reader
"What we feel isn't important. It's utterly unimportant. The only question is what we do. If people like you don't learn from what happened to people like me, then what the hell is the point of anything?"
So says Professor Rohl (Bruno Gantz) to a young law student named Michael Berg (David Kross) near the middle of The Reader. YetGreg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-41815413227584167632010-04-27T17:38:00.000-07:002010-05-03T21:30:22.681-07:00Some New Features, and A ReminderOkay, I know I've been writing a lot of entries recently, but this one, like the one for my birthday, is very short.
I've added two new features to my sidebar, just below my profile: Books I Am Currently Reading, and Currently Working On (e.g.. novels, poetry, short stories, etc). Books written in a gray font are books that I'm currently taking a break from, but haven't finished (they'll Greg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137881528783061580.post-58008331205171923612010-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:002010-04-28T16:01:31.612-07:00Atonement
How far must one go to atone for a wrong done in childhood?
In 1935 England, a thirteen-year-old girl named Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) misinterprets a couple of encounters she witnesses between Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), a servant, and her sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), which--when mixed with adolescent jealousy--culminate in a false accusation that sends Robbie to jail. AlmostGreg Salvatorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com7